Aleksandrs Cauņa

Aleksandrs Cauņa (Latvian pronunciation: [ˈt͡sɑuɲɑ]; born 19 January 1988) is a Latvian football player. He is currently working as a coach at FK Jelgava.

Aleksandrs Cauņa
Cauņa with CSKA Moscow in 2014
Personal information
Full name Aleksandrs Cauņa
Date of birth (1988-01-19) 19 January 1988
Place of birth Daugavpils, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Republic of Latvia)
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Jelgava (coach)
Youth career
1995–2002 Dinaburg
2002–2005 Skonto Riga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Olimps Riga 10 (2)
2006–2011 Skonto Riga 77 (16)
2009 → Watford (loan) 5 (1)
2011 → CSKA Moscow (loan) 4 (0)
2011–2017 CSKA Moscow 56 (3)
2017–2018 RFS 2 (0)
National team‡
2007–2015 Latvia 45 (12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 September 2017
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 January 2017

Career

Club

Born in Daugavpils, at youth level Cauņa played for Dinaburg, being brought to Skonto Riga system at the age of 14 in 2002, where he spent 3 years. In 2006, he joined the Latvian First League side Olimps Riga, playing 10 matches and scoring 2 goals. In 2006, he re-joined Skonto Riga and got a place in the starting eleven. He was named the best youth player in Latvia despite playing only half the season in 2006.

In January 2008 Cauņa was invited to join the Premier League club Chelsea on trial and he trained with the club's reserves.[1] After the 2008 season Cauņa was on trials at several Premier League clubs, including Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland, but moves eventually fell through as managers Paul Ince and Roy Keane left the clubs.[2][3]

On 2 February 2009 he joined English Championship club Watford on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season, with a view to a permanent move.[4] On 3 March he made his debut, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute for Jon Harley in the 2–1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park. Cauņa scored his first Watford goal on his full debut for the club, firing a powerful half-volley in a 2–2 draw with Southampton at Vicarage Road on 7 April 2009.[5] He returned to Skonto at the end of the season.

On 25 August 2010 he went on trial with English Premier League side Blackpool, playing in their Lancashire Senior Cup tie against Morecambe later the same day at Bloomfield Road, but didn't stay with the club.[6]

CSKA Moscow

At the start of 2011 Cauņa went on trial with the Russian Premier League side PFC CSKA Moscow, and on 1 February 2011 he was loaned to the club for 4 months.[7] He made his debut on 17 February in the UEFA Europa League match against PAOK.[8]

On 27 June 2011 CSKA bought out his rights from Skonto and he signed a five-year contract with CSKA.[9] On 18 October 2011 Cauņa scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League group stages in a 3–0 victory over Trabzonspor.[10]

Cauņa scored his first Russian Premier League goal for CSKA on 19 August 2012 in a match against Mordovia Saransk. On 26 August 2012 Cauņa scored his second RPL goal against Krylia Sovetov Samara – a powerful blast from 30 metres,[11] that was later highly rated and put him in the team of the week.[12] On 26 September Cauņa and CSKA matched up against FC Tom Tomsk at the 1/16 stage of Russian Cup. CSKA came out with 1–0 win, with Cauņa being a goalscorer. He made an undeniable shot with left foot from outside the penalty area.

Cauņa left CSKA Moscow by mutual consent on 11 January 2017.[13]

FK Jelgava

On 28 December 2018 it was announced, that Cauna had signed with FK Jelgava as a coach, but he also wanted to return on the pitch some time.[14]

International

Cauņa has been a vital member of the Latvia national team since his international debut in 2007. He scored his first two international goals in 2009 – in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Luxembourg (a 4–0 win) and Switzerland (a 2–2 draw). His third goal came on 11 August 2010 in a 4–1 friendly match defeat to Czech Republic. It was his first appearance after recovering from a serious injury and being out of football for almost six months. On 12 October he scored an excellent last minute bicycle kick to level against Georgia on UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match. In 2008, he helped the team win the Baltic Cup.[15] As of 3 November 2013 he has made 40 appearances for Latvia, scoring 11 goals.[16]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 9 April 2016[17][18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Skonto Riga 2006 LMT Virslīga 102–10–112
2007 224–10–234
2008 221–00–221
2009 114–20–134
2010 125–00–125
2011 0000–00–00
Total 7716--40--8116
Watford (loan) 2008–09 Championship 510000––51
CSKA Moscow (loan) 2011–12 Russian Premier League 4000–00–40
CSKA Moscow 2011–12 Russian Premier League 13010–71–211
2012–13 25341–20–314
2013–14 4000–100050
2014–15 5010–200080
2015–16 9021–2000131
2016–17 0000–000000
Total 56382--14100786
RFS 2017 Latvian Higher League 2000–––20
Career total 1442082--1810017023

International
Latvia national team
YearAppsGoals
200730
200860
200972
201052
201173
201272
201341
201410
201541
201600
201700
Total4411

Statistics accurate as of match played 13 October 2015[18]

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.28 March 2009Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg Luxembourg2–04–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.9 September 2009Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia  Switzerland1–12–22010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.11 August 2010Stadion u Nisy, Liberec, Czech Republic Czech Republic1–41–4Friendly
4.12 October 2010Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia Georgia1–11–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
5.4 June 2011Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia Israel1–21–2UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
6.2 September 2011Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia Georgia1–01–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
7.6 September 2011Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia Greece1–01–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
8.1 June 2012Võru Stadium, Võru, Estonia Lithuania1–05–02012 Baltic Cup
9.7 September 2012Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia Greece1–01–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
10.22 March 2013Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein Liechtenstein1–11–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.10 October 2015Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland2–12–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

Non-FIFA International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.9 February 2011Mardan Sports Complex, Antalya, Turkey Bolivia1–12–1Friendly

Honours

Club
Skonto Riga
CSKA Moscow

International
Latvia

Individual

References
  1. http://sports.delfi.lv/news/football/news/article.php?id=20089727
  2. http://sportacentrs.com/futbols/legionari/16122008-inss_atlaists_caunas_izredzes_saruk
  3. http://sportacentrs.com/futbols/legionari/05122008-cauna_pec_kina_aiziesanas_situacija_ir_be
  4. Smith, Frank (2 February 2009). "Watford sign midfielders Don Cowie and Aleksandrs Cauna". Watford Observer. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  5. "Watford 2-2 Southampton". BBC. 7 April 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  6. "TEAM NEWS FROM BLOOMFIELD ROAD". Blackpool F.C. 25 August 2010. Archived from the original on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  7. "Cauņa spēlēs Maskavas "CSKA"". sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  8. "Cauņa debitē "CSKA" ar aktīvu līdzdarbošanos vārtu guvumā". sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  9. "Цауня подписал контракт с ПФК ЦСКА". PFC CSKA Moscow. 27 June 2011. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012.
  10. "B grupa: Cauņa gūst vārtus Čempionu līgā". sportacentrs.com. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  11. http://sportacentrs.com/futbols/legionari/26082012-vanina_sion_piedzivo_pirmo_zaudejumu_sezo
  12. http://sportacentrs.com/futbols/citas_ligas/28082012-cauna_simboliskajas_izlases_visnakovam_de
  13. "Александр Цауня покинул ПФК ЦСКА". pfc-cska.com (in Russian). PFC CSKA Moscow. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  14. Cauņa pievienojas FK «Jelgava» treneru kolektīvam, grib būt arī futbolists, lsm.lv, 28 December 2018
  15. "LFF: Baltijas Kauss". Lff.lv. 30 May 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  16. "LFF: SPĒLĒTĀJI | Players". Lff.lv. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  17. "A.Cauņa". uk.soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  18. "Aleksandrs Cauņa". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
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